World of Dance Season 2! WEEK 8 PART 2 Live Blog!! THE DUELS

OMG….just got home in time for THE DUELS!!! I haven’t even had wine yet!!

Derek lookin’ fine in his different outfit…that crazy people on the internet have been harping about for WEEKS now. 🙂

You know how this goes – people go head to head, highest score moves to the next round. Highest scoring act picks first.

Karen y Ricardo pick Luka and Jenalyn. This is going to be brutal. I don’t even know who to root for!

Karen/Ricardo got a 99.7 in the first round, but do Luka and Jenalyn have a leg up due to familiarity?? They only got an 87 in the first routine.

First up is Karen/Ricardo. Wow, crazy lift trick, very crisp and sharp. lots of actual dancing in between the tricks Derek’s face – LOL. Tough act to follow. Great spin, but perhaps too long? Hard to say what will work in this round. Last lift was a bit messy, just a bit. Judges are amazed and impressed, safe to say.

JLo says they were very solid but scary to watch. And incredible. Derek says it shows that they are competition dancers. Ne-Yo loves it too. Luka/Jenalyn may be in trouble cuz the judges are he others, but I don’t know if it his as tight. The judges are raving.

Next up: Luka and Jenalyn. In a straight jacket for Jenalyn. Very intricate moves, but the first one is a bit sloppy. Off comes the jacket – this has a paso feel to it and is more aggressive but I don’t know if it’s as strong.

Judges say this is the best they’ve seen them and they’ve stepped it up. Derek loves the concept.

Scores for Luka/Jenalyn: 90, 92, 95 for an average of 92.3.

Scores for Karen/Rickardo: 97, 99, 99 for an average of 98.3. Karen y Ricardo are moving on to the next round. I can’t be mad about that at all.

Commercial break…time for wine. 🙂

Next up are the Expressions (contemporary, 87) versus the Untouchables (samba – 87.7). Close contest. Untouchables features a very familiar face for ballroom fans. But they’re going against contemporary, who have an automatic leg up. Pardon the expression. 🙂 Expressions got criticized for their…expressions. 🙂 Sort of.

Sorry – mom called. I’m a bit behind.

I’m always going to lean towards the ballroom kids and I think they’re the better group. But ya never know what will happen in the duels. The Expressions have a suicide theme, which is very lovely – and they need to make it personal to get past Derek’s previous critique.

First up? The untouchables. Interesting start looking contemporary. Cool visual with the sheet and how everyone appears from behind it. Love this song. This group is Sooo tight. Excellent. This also looks like a Paso, to me, but Court is the ballroom expert. Okay that bit looked like Argentine tango. Very VERY well done. Excellent.

Jennifer calls them gladiators. Ne-yo says they held it and all styles had a time to shine. Derek loves the concept, the production – and calls out all the styles I saw – but then calls it a bit simple. JLo says it doesn’t have to be difficult but I say she should not talk to Derek about Ballroom.

The Expressions are next – all girls in pink/red and dancing to a very over used song. Derek and Julianne used it I think. But they are doing a great job in sync. Great turns. And a lot of them. Excellent routine, felt more genuine this time.

Jen has goosies – still hate that word. Jennifer says they were perfectly in sync and just raves about it. Derek says the quality of movement were second to none and were perfectly in sync. He applauds them. Ne-Yo says it was like there was one person up there.

Scores for Untouchables: commercial….

Scores for Untouchables: 89, 89, 90 for an average of 89.3

Scores for Expressions: 93, 95, 94 for an average of 94 – they move on to the next round. Just what we need – more contemporary dancers. :::eye roll:::

Next up it’s ballroom versus Krumping – B’dash and koncrete versus Daniella and Pasha. Derek is serving as the a VT commentator. 🙂

B’Dash and KonKrete have a story about fear in their dance. They got a 94.3

Pasha and Daniella did a rock and roll ballroom in jeans in the first round. And got a 86.3. Kind of an unfair fight on this one.

B’Dash has a balloon. I think Steven King.

Pasha and Daniella up first – Still as sexy as ever. Tight and sharp.Tough lift. Good mix of soft and hard. She gives good face too. Wow…hot at the end. I think she was targeting Derek with the stare.

He calls her a tiger/gazelle then talks about the lifts and tricks and how they aren’t usually in ballroom but he likes them. Ne-Yo is still hard on them and thinks it isn’t enough. Jennifer also says she was waiting for something more to happen. Doesn’t bode well.

B’Dash and Konkrete – and commercial. Derek: “I don’t like clowns”. LOL Very creepy. Starts slow, relative to the other dance, but it’s pretty excellent. Okay, that was just evil looking. 🙂 Wow. Excellent. Very well done.

Derek again says he hates clowns and he’s going to have nightmares. 🙂 He loved the narrative. Jennifer was nervous for them going up against the ballroom. She also likes the story and it was effective. Ne-Yo also loved the creativity.

I feel like ballroom is doomed on this show because everyone talks creativity about other dances.

Scores Daniella and Pasha: 85, 89, 91 for an average of 88.3

Scores for B’Dash and K – 95, 94, 94 for an average of 94. They move on to the next round.

Come on, Nappytabs – are you really editing this show so the second dance wins? I swear the first three have been that way. Predictable.

Next is 94.7 (Fabulous Sister) against 84.7 (The Rascals) – I’m totally with the Fabulous Sisters on this one. They were unbelievable in the first round. Incredible. Rascals were great, but they tried a bit hard to be very similar to the other kid groups with faces.

Jenna seems to be giving some good advice, but I don’t know what I would change at this stage…

The Sisters mean business…but so do the Rascals! First up is The Rascals. Very strong and clean, with the boy in the lead really telegraphing the music. They’ve got Derek enthused. Even the Sisters love it. I just think that the Sisters do tougher routines.

Jennifer says they have in grit and they make it up in grit and grime. Neyo says they are clean and in sync. Derek says their grooves are great and love the knee drop.

The Sisters are up next…love their outfits. And another damn commercial. Anyway….Excellent start. Very detailed, very cool. Holy crap, this is amazing Imma be pissed if hey don’t win. Just so intricate and difficult. Those formations should really appeal to Derek. And that little girl at the end can give every bit as good a face as the others.

Ne-Yo says it was art in motions. Jennifer says she loves being teased by the quiet and she loves the face the little girl did at the end. She’s raving. Derek starts raving, talking about their power, and their obvious work effort. Crystal clean, sharp, etc.

Scores for The Rascals: 97, 94, 92 for an average of 94.3.

Sisters: 95, 96, 96 for an average of 95.7!! And the Sisters move forward. Awww..both teams are crying. I feel bad for all the little girls.

That was quite the excellent duel.

Next up is Michael Damesky (94.7) versus Angyl. Classical versus classical with a hip hop edge. Michael says he’s going out of his comfort zone. He says he chose Angyl because she’s the only other soloist. Did we get to see Angyl in the Qualifiers?? Or did she get glossed over last night. No time to go check.

Come on, Angyl!! Michael is up first. Typical contemporary moves, although very strong. Like the speed, for sure. And the jump/spins. He’s obviously excellent – I’m just not that into contemporary.

Ne-Yo calls him a superhero. Jennifer says she was on an emotional rollercoaster the whole time. Derek comments on the dancers who can choreograph – magic. He would know. :-)that is sooo cool.

Angyl is up! Very cool. love the had. She’s amazing. Crap, that is sooo cool. Popping and locking or hip hop or just urban greatness – excellent. I root for her!!

Ne-yo loves it all but says she doesn’t give the moves time to breathe. He’s full of shit. Jennifer says it’s a great routine but says it’s tough – they’re both great in their genre. Derek says the first 30 sec was fire, but agrees with Ne-yo on needing to breathe. She says it’s all freestyle. Ne-Yo and Derek both full of shit. Like we need another contemporary dancer in this competition.

Scores for Michael: 95, 94, 95 for an average of 94.7.

Scores for Angyil: 90, 87, 88 – utter bullshit, IMO. Michael moves on and I’m annoyed. Finally, nappytabs changes the routine, lousy timing.

The Bradas choose the Jam Project for the next duel. Let me predict ahead of time – the tap group will lose because you have to be contemporary or hip hop to get ahead on this show.

Bradas up first. Sharp outfits. Great sync for sure.Are they actually hip hop? I’m losing track. The jump rope might be too much, but that flying twist they did was excellent. Magic canes!! cool trick, but they lost a bit of sync there.

Derek says the props can be dangerous but it paid off for them. He loved it. Ne-Yo says kudos on adding more dancing. Jennifer raves, says it was amazing.

The Jam Project is next…and commercial. Anyway. Big tap group with great sync work and I feel they took notes well too. Classic and perfect, IMO. The bridge was awesome. That was awesome.

Derek – crisp, clean, together, great impact. Incredible. Ne-Yo says issue is you can’t completely hear it, but that’s not the case with them at all. Says he was worried for them, but not anymore. Jennifer says it’s a great, dynamic routine, and sound was crystal clear. Performance 100 times better than last time. Says tap can compete.

Scores for the Bradas: 90, 90, 89 for an average of 89.7

Scores for The Jam Project: 86, 88, 91 for an average of 88.3. The Bradas go through as I predicted. Another bullshit score. This show is pissing me off big time.

Eh, the Bradas were great, but we’re going to have a Cut round that has no one outside contemporary or urban genres at the rate they’re going and I don’t think that a lot of these styles really can go head to head.

Eva Igo up next against Avery and Marcus – I predict they kiss her (Eva’s) ass. I feel like she tried too hard in the qualifiers. Avery and Marcus are rock and roll contemporary en pointe. They are different and I love them. We’ll see.

Jenna is really doing a good job at mentoring here, IMO.

Eva up first. More standard contemporary. Amazing flexibility. I feel like I’ve seen this from her before. Of course she’s amazing, but….

Of course the judges rave. Derek is critiquing that emotion and how the dance relies on it – he would like more structure to the routine. Valid. Ne-Yo calls her a powerhouse and Jennifer weighs in with a beast. Ne-Yo says he feels he’s seen it before too. Thank you, Ne-Yo. Jennifer says she’s amazing and fearless. She’s raving. Glad that Derek and Ne-Yo are keeping it real.

Avery and Marcus have much more texture right at the start. I like their quite moments which Eva doesn’t have. And that was a crazy flexible move. Holy crap. These two have Eva’s flexibility beat, IMO. And fancy tricks. HOLY CRAP that ending pose!! All the judges were stunned by that one. And JLo realizes that her baby Eva might just have gotten beat.

Derek is raving, loved the fusion of ballet, contemporary etc. He’s going crazy over their performance. Ne-Yo says they made him cross eyed. Loved how they both shined at points. Jennifer says this is one of the hardest duels, both dynamic and beautiful. Jennifer finds a way to critique. Hmmmmm….

Scores for Eva: 94, 91, 91 for an average of 92.

Scores for Avery and Marcus. 92, 93, 95 for an average of 93.3….and Eva gets beaten. I’m sad for her, and Jennifer is devastated of course. But Avery and Marcus killed her. The judges all hug Eva. Awww….

And the internet melts down in 5…4…3…